Shai Anluura: Padawan of Bridger
by Artemis the Rebel
Summary: Many years into the future, we meet Shai Anluura, a young Togruta adult whose dreams are constantly haunted by a terrifying man from her past: the Inquisitor. But do her nightmares mean more than what it seems? (Rated T mostly for my own paranoia.)
1. Chapter 1

1

 **SHAI ANLUURA** _was a twelve-year-old Togruta girl. Her life could not be happier or more peaceful. She and her family lived on a large, habitable asteroid outside of the Empire's domain, where families who did not support the new government could live happily ever after._

 _It was nighttime. Shai sat curled up between her mother and father, cozy, sleepy, and content as she watched an amusing movie with them. She didn't really understand what was going on anymore; she was too tired. But what she was really focused on anyway was this quiet moment with her parents. They were her world, and her theirs._

 _Suddenly, the entire room flooded with a crimson light that blotted out the pale glow cast from the video displayer. Several feet away, the metallic door fell inwards, sliced in half, the edges along the cut shining white-hot. In its place stood a tall, intimidating silhouette whose sharp, gaunt features were thrown into a frightening contrast of red light and ebony shadows. The intruder held a strange, deadly-looking weapon at the ready, which was emitting the fierce, bloody glow and an ominous hum._

 _Shai's light brown eyes widened in fear as her parents leapt to their feet. They attacked the man in the now-doorless entryway. Shai could only shriek in terror as the black-armored stranger cut them both down._

 _Shai scrambled backwards as the man paced forward, chuckling coldly._

"Now it is your turn, little Jedi," _the Pau'an, as she could now see he was, growled._

 _Then his fearsome blade slashed down towards her face._

Shai sat bolt upright in bed with a bloodcurdling scream. Her chest heaved as she stared into the darkness. Her veins felt like they were running with icewater, and she was shaking like a leaf in a gale. Her heart pounded furiously in her ears and vibrated her mantral.

Shai breathed in and out. _Use the Force,_ she thought, struggling to calm down as her master had taught her. She was completely safe, in her bedroom, and far, far away from the Inquisitor who stalked her dreams.

She grimaced immediately, abruptly remembering that she _shared_ this bedroom.

A silhouette, barely visible in the darkness, appeared just to her left. Shai squinted and made out the wild-eyed, mussy-haired figure of Sabine Wren.

 _"What's the matter?!"_ the Mandalorian yelped, her voice high-pitched and a bit dazed. _"What happened?!"_

"Nothing, Sabine, I'm okay," Shai answered quietly. "Just another nightmare."

Sabine stared at her a moment longer, then slowly crawled back into her own bunk, the one beneath Shai's.

Shai winced again and lay back down, feeling awful. She woke up from nightmares like that much too often, just usually not so loudly. _I should really talk to my master about them more._

Shai tried to take comfort in the softness of her pillow, but the images from her nightmare were still flashing before her eyes, and she was wide awake now. There would be no going back to sleep, even if she was brave enough to try. Shai sighed quietly and sat up, then tiptoed down the ladder, trying to be as silent as possible. She had disturbed poor Sabine enough.

Once her bare toes touched the cool bottom rung, she made a short jump to the floor, then soundlessly walked over to the far end of the room. She found the keypad that would open the door after feeling her hand across the wall, then relied on memory to enter the opening code. The door sprang open with a pneumatic hiss.

Shai clamped her hands over her mouth, flinching backwards, when she saw her master was standing just outside in the dimly-lit hall, waiting for her.

Shai's master was in his later twenties. His ebony hair was a mess, but that didn't necessarily mean that Shai had woken him; his hair was always a mess. One of his thick eyebrows lifted as a small, kind smile appeared on his tan face.

"Nightmares again?" he whispered.

Shai gave a small nod. She was tall for an eighteen-year-old female of any species, coming up almost to her master's ear (the height of her mantla included).

His gentle smile widened slightly as he touched her shoulder. "Come on."

Shai looked down at her pajamas incredulously. _"But-"_ she began to protest softly.

"It's _fine._ Follow me." He quietly scampered down the hall.

Shai sighed a little, but obliged with a vague, amused smile. The door automatically closed behind her as she briskly set off after her beloved master.


	2. Chapter 2

2

 **SHAI'S MASTER** was often a quirky fellow, but Shai loved him all the same. She followed him through the ship to the entry ramp, which was wide open, allowing the cool outside air to pool into the ship. Her master was already sitting at the bottom of the ramp, gazing up at the beautiful night sky.

Shai quietly walked over and sat at his side. "Why did you take me here, Master?" she asked softly, her light brown eyes lifting to the starry inkspill above. The moonlight edged her lovely features with silver.

Her master glanced at her, chuckling. "You're so formal, Shai. It's not like Kanan's awake to boss us around about properness, and besides, we're just relaxing right now. Call me Ezra."

Shai blinked. "If you want," she murmured. She sounded almost disappointed.

Ezra lifted his thick black eyebrows slightly. "What's wrong?"

"N-Nothing! It's just, well..." Shai looked away. The long grass swayed gently in the pleasant breeze. "I'm sorry if I seem straightlaced. For a long time, all I really wanted was an official master. I wanted to be a real Padawan... not just a girl who had talked to a Jedi for a little while."

Ezra dipped his head in understanding. "You're not straightlaced, Shai. I get it. I'm only saying - sometimes it can be a little annoying to call somebody _'Master'_ all the time." He bowed to her dramatically. "But if it doesn't annoy you, it's cool."

Shai stifled a giggle and looked back at him, smirking. "It doesn't - Ezra."

Ezra chuckled again and nudged her, sombering a bit. "So, anyway... those nightmares." He gazed at her with concerned sapphire eyes. "Do you want to talk about them?"

Shai sighed softly, drawing her knees up and resting her chin on them. "I guess I should, shouldn't I?"

"You don't have to if you don't want to," Ezra said patiently, "but it would probably help if you did."

Shai was quiet for a long moment. Then she admitted, "Did Senator Organa or someone tell you anything about how I became involved with this rebel cell?"

"Somewhat," Ezra murmured, "but not that much."

"Because I was so strong with the Force... the Empire kept sending an Inquisitor after me."

Ezra broke in, alarmed. "Wait, you mean _the_ Inquisitor?! That creepy Pau'an guy?!"

Shai couldn't help smiling in amusement. "Yeah... that one. He kept me and my parents constantly on the run. We fled from planet to planet. No matter where we went, the Inquisitor came." Her smile had faded, and she seemed to be gazing upon a different landscape entirely. "One day, I guess my parents knew that we couldn't escape the Empire even one more time. They called an old friend of theirs, a starfighter pilot for the rebel cell, and he took me onto his ship and flew me away. As we were leaving the atmosphere of that planet... I saw that the Empire had invaded." Shai closed her eyes tightly. "I don't know for sure what they did to them, but... I never saw my parents again."

"I'm sorry," Ezra whispered, his voice hollow with shock. She felt his gentle hand on her back.

"It's okay, Ezra." She looked up at him, mustering up a tiny grin. "I have you guys now, don't I?"

 _"Definitely."_ Ezra folded his arms around her.

Shai hugged him back. "The Inquisitor is in all my nightmares. He always infiltrates one of my happier memories of my parents a-and... _murders_ them, then attacks me and the nightmare ends." She shuddered.

Ezra released her, watching her worriedly. "That's horrible."

Shai nodded faintly, looking up at him. "I have them almost every night, Ezra. I don't know what to do about them."

Ezra was silent. His thinking face was on, she noticed with a tinge of amusement.

"I think we'd better talk to Kanan about this," he said at last, glancing back at her grimly. "I don't have the expertise he does when it comes to these things."

Shai pursed her lips anxiously as they stood up. "I'm not so sure he's up yet..."

"Don't you worry about that." Ezra placed his hands on his hips and grinned mischievously. "He _will_ be in a few more minutes." He threw his head back and gave a cruel laugh.

Shai sighed into her palms. _Poor, poor Kanan._


End file.
